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China’s VR news anchor is here and able to deliver the news 24/7 in a professional manner. The well-dressed VR anchor, based on a real-life Xinhua state news anchor named Zhang Zhao, gets its data from a non-stop stream of information typed into his system. The AI then reads the data and manipulates the VR

Fallout 4 is probably never getting PSVR support. Fallout 76 is very likely never getting official VR support, whether it be PSVR, Rift, Vive, or something else, probably ever. Pete Hines told us as much back at E3 earlier this year. But that didn’t stop me from hopping into the game while wearing a PSVR headset anyway.

I did the same thing with the PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus and, most recently, Red Dead Redemption 2. While a far cry from actual VR support or at the very least VorpX-style head-tracking, it’s still a novel way of experiencing a non-VR game. If you’re confused on how Cinematic Mode works, it’s like this. Similar to using Big Screen and opting for the void environment. Especially since Fallout 76 arguable plays better in first-person than third-person anyway.

For those unaware, Fallout 76 is a post-apocalyptic open world sandbox RPG shooter set in the years following a global nuclear war and its ensuing fallout. As the first multiplayer game in the franchise, you’re joined by other players online in the game world as you fight alongside and against each other.

When you pick the largest size option, the screen is just big enough that it can basically encompass your entire field of view. It’s like sitting front row at a movie theater, but you’re completely closed off from the rest of the world.

After playing Fallout 4 VR on PC, which is definitely not as good as it could have been, playing Fallout 76 inside a headset is a bit like a tease. Obviously the game has its fair share of problems that are hard to overlook, but being able to be inside of a Fallout game world, with friends, is pretty special. It’d have been even better in VR.

The lower resolution sucks away some of the fidelity when compared to my 70-inch 4K HDR TV, but the all-encompassing immersion helps make up for it. Games like Fallout 76 are best enjoyed by getting fully immersed in the game world and what better way to do that than to literally shut out the real world while playing?

Would you like Fallout 76 better if it were in VR? I definitely think I would.

Oculus has launched its ‘Fall into Fun’ sale across Rift, Go, and Gear VR, with reduced prices on dozens of VR games on the Oculus Store. The sale will last until midnight between Monday (11/26) and Tuesday (11/27) next week.

As well as the individual game sales, Oculus is also offering four loosely Fall / Thanksgiving themed bundles, two for Rift and one for Go/Gear VR. The Rift packs contain two games each and the Go/Gear VR pack contains five games.

Best Rift Deal: Arizona Sunshine

The full fledged Rift zombie shooter game Arizona Sunshine is 50% off, making it just $19.99.

The game offers a voice-acted 4+ hour campaign with both co-op and single player options, as well as a co-operative focused “horde” multiplayer mode with endless waves of zombies on a variety of maps. Even today we think it’s the best zombie shooter in VR, despite the lack of melee weapons.

Best Go/Gear VR Deal: Overflight

Overflight is a WW2 dogfighting game with a singleplayer campaign and competitive online multiplayer. It’s one of the most engaging “proper games” on the mobile VR platform and often gets overlooked.

It’s 50% off in the Fall into Fun sale, bringing the price to just $3.99.

The StarVR One head-mounted display with its ultra wide field of view costs $3200.

The price includes the headset and cables, but does not include SteamVR base stations necessary for positional tracking or the controllers necessary for interaction. The StarVR One headset boasts some monster specifications including a 210° horizontal × 130° vertical field of view, dual AMOLED panels, SteamVR 2.0 tracking, and integrated eye tracking for automatic IPD adjustment & foveated rendering. The StarVR One is primarily intended for enterprise customers, and this first batch is intended for enterprise-focused developers.

Here’s the full list of specifications for the StarVR One as listed on the product page for the headset:

We’ve sent an email seeking more information about the minimum specification for the headset and whether it assumes foveated rendering is working all the time. For instance, we’re curious if there’s a different minimum specification for running the system without foveated rendering activated. Altogether, the investment in StarVR, controllers, tracking base stations and an extremely high-powered PC could cost well above $5,000, depending on the graphics hardware powering the system.

CEO & Founder of Emblematic Group, Peña is the second woman in history to receive the prestigious award. From winning the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Advanced Imaging Society, being named a New America Fellow and Yale Poynter Fellow, and joining the extraordinary list of CNET’s influential Latinos in technology, VR and AR Pioneer Nonny

The VR industry really wants you to buy a headset this Black Friday. Some of the deals we’ve seen even ahead of this year’s big shopping day are, frankly, beyond belief. If you’re yet to take the dive and get into VR then this is definitely the week to do it, and you’ll find no better list of VR deals than right here.

Keep checking back to this post throughout the week as we’ll be updating it with new deals. With all that said, let’s get to it.

PlayStation VR

Sony’s PS4 headset is going all-out this holiday season with some truly amazing deals both on the hardware and software front.

PlayStation VR with Astro Bot + Moss – $199.99

As we’ve already said, you should get a PSVR this Black Friday (if you don’t already have one), and this is one of the best deals to get. Astro Bot and Moss are two of the headset’s best games so the value here is frankly ridiculous. But, before you hit ‘Purchase’, there is another bundle to consider.

PlayStation VR with Creed, Superhot + 2 Move Controllers – $249.99

Whilst this is a touch more expensive than our last bundle, there’s a very good reason you should consider it instead. PSVR Move controllers typically go for around $60 these days so, even before you add on two more wonderful games, you’re making a big saving. Considering that a massive number of PSVR games require Moves, this may be the better bet unless you have some kicking around from your PS3 days.

PlayStation Store Black Friday Sale

As for games, the PlayStation Store has you covered. The excellent Firewall Zero Hour is down to $29.99 (though it’s best played with a PSVR Aim Controller, don’t forget) and if you get the Astro Bot bundle then you can still find Creed for just $14.99. One of the platforms best games, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, is also just $29.99 for the week.

HTC Vive

It’s the first Black Friday ever for HTC’s Vive Pro headset and thus the company is set to shave off dollars from one of VR’s most premium devices, with some amazing software deals to boot.

HTC Vive Pro Full Kit – $1,199.99 (Starts November 23rd)

Getting into VR from scratch? The Vive Pro Full Kit gives you everything you need from the headset to controllers and base stations. The headset, meanwhile, is an upgraded take on the original Vive with better resolution and integrated audio. It’s still a lot of money but, if you’re after the very best, it’s the only place to go.

HTC Vive Pro Standalone – $699.99 (Starts November 23rd)

Or, if you already have a Vive, then you’ll just need the Pro headset. This bundle takes $500 out of the cost though, again, it’s still a pretty penny.

Facebook’s Oculus applied for a patent on an electromagnetic cable connector for PC VR headsets. The concept is similar to the ‘MagSafe’ connector which Apple MacBooks featured until recently.

In current wired VR headsets if you accidentally step on the cable or go too far from the PC, either the computer or the VR headset can be violently pulled out of position. This sometimes causes equipment damage or even minor injuries, and is one of the reasons wireless is so desirable for VR. The concept of this patent seems to be that if enough force is applied, instead of pulling the PC or headset away the cable will simply detach, much like Apple’s MagSafe for laptops.

In July, the new VirtualLink cable standard for PC VR was announced, with Oculus listed as one of the primary backers alongside NVIDIA, AMD, Valve, and Microsoft. No VR headsets with a VirtualLink cable have launched yet, but Oculus’ involvement suggests that future Oculus Rifts are likely to use this standard. NVIDIA’s latest GPUs already feature the port.

The cable of tethered VR is a major roadblock for PC and console VR adoption. While wireless solutions exist, such as HTC’s Vive Wireless Adapter, they’re currently expensive and require wall mounting for optimal performance. While an electromagnetic connector would not avoid the issue of restricted rotation and freedom of movement, it could help lower the danger to objects and people that a cable creates. And of course, keep in mind that companies patent ideas all the time that never actually release to the public.

Notably, the strap of the headset in the patent image is not the Rift’s triangular shape. Instead, it’s a new shape which looks similar to the Oculus logo. It’s possible this has no meaning and was just for this illustration, but worth pointing out when the current Rift’s strap resembles the HTC Vive logo.

We all know how heist movies go. A sassy squad of thieves is about to finish the perfect job when, surprise, surprise, someone betrays them. It might be a friend looking to scoop the whole score or an undercover police officer determined to make his name. In the case of Covert, though, its Oculus’ own hardware that’ll land you behind bars.

Covert is, in many ways, an excellent VR game. It requires two players; one inside the Oculus Go headset sneaking through museums and corporate headquarters, whilst the other is on a mobile device, pointing out guard patrol routes, opening doors and solving puzzles in tandem. It’s like Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes stretched into a full campaign with hours worth of play. When it works, it offers some of the best VR co-op since that game, but Covert’s ambition is often outstripped by the limits of the hardware it’s debuting on.

Sneaking past guards and spotlights, for example, is frustrated by Go’s touchpad which provides sluggish smooth locomotion. It just doesn’t give you the tight response needed to make a last minute sprint across a hallway and was often the cause of many an irksome death. In developer White Elk’s brilliant last game, Eclipse, the pacing encouraged exploration so this wasn’t an issue, but Covert is a much more demanding experience and the controls just can’t keep up.

The same is true in tricky, time-sensitive moments and puzzles. You’ll often need to latch a hook shot onto a steel beam to hoist yourself over a gap, for example, but I’d usually struggle to find the spot I needed to stand in to get the icon to appear and would be shot whilst I was fighting with Go’s 3DOF motion controller. The motion device is represented as a hand in-game, making it more of a cruel teaser that you don’t have a full range of movement to help you in tight spots.

I mean, this is a VR stealth game in which you can’t lean around corners to spot guards, which is one of the most satisfying aspects of other entries in the genre. That speaks for itself.

It is possible to go through stretches of the game where you won’t encounter these issues during which Covert does feel like a worthy follow-up to Eclipse. There are some absolutely brilliant ideas here, like getting mobile users to direct players across safe passages on an electrified floor, or having them operate a crate that can block out laser grids and even taxi them over other threats.

In it’s best moments its fuses its individual mechanics together naturally, like one sequence in which the VR player must weave in and out of office buildings, scanning objects in an attempt to find a keycard that will get them through a certain door. The mobile player needs to stay in constant contact about enemy locations and has to be quick with their fingers to create distractions. It is absolutely thrilling and a great example of what’s possible when Go doesn’t

Beat Saber’s long-awaited PSVR version is finally set to arrive tomorrow, but developer Beat Games just reconfirmed that the game won’t be getting a major feature.

The official Beat Saber Twitter account yesterday noted that the console version of the game won’t be getting custom songs, which the PC VR community is already busy building via mods (a more official editor is on the way too). The tweet noted that it was “basically impossible” to get custom songs onto the platform because PlayStation is a “closed system”. Indeed, other VR games like Skyrim VR don’t enjoy mods for this reason.

Since PS is a closed platform, it’s basically impossible to implement custom songs, unfortunately. But we plan to release music packs regularly. 🙂

— Beat Saber (@BeatSaber) November 18, 2018

However, the tweet also adds that this version of the game will be seeing new music packs “regularly” and we’d expect that to count for the PC version too. Details about the DLC will apparently be arriving soon.

We will be sharing all the info about our plans with upcoming music content soon guys! 🙂

— Beat Saber (@BeatSaber) November 18, 2018

PSVR owners are also getting some other goodies in the trade-off. This version of the game will be the first to get content such as five new songs and an all-new campaign mode. These features will be coming to the PC VR versions at some point, but they’ll debut on PSVR for now. No word yet on if other planned updates for the PC version like a multiplayer mode will also find their way over to console.

We also don’t know anything about Beat Saber PSVR’s pricing, but we’ll find out tomorrow for sure.

Alphabet’s Google has filed a patent application for a new approach to VR walking shoes. The shoes described use tiny motorized wheels on the bottom to subtly redirect the user back to the center of their room when they walk towards the edges. If done correctly, the user would feel as if they have an infinite VR playspace.

The approach is an extension of earlier ideas of “infinite redirected walking”, which used purely visual distortions in scale of the virtual environment to try and achieve the same effect through tricking the user’s eyes. The issue with those approaches however is that they still required a very large playspace of around 20×20 feet to be effective, and may only be effective in indoor virtual environments. By adding actual movement to the user’s shoes, the redirection can be both optical and physical. As you’re walking towards the edge of the room, the motors in the shoes will activate in the opposite direction when your feet touch the ground.

Until recently, the main approach to physically walking through large virtual environments has been omnidirectional treadmills (ODTs) such as Kat Walk Mini or Omni. ODTs are pretty great at providing a true feeling of walking, but their sheer size means they are expensive both to build and to ship. Many people wouldn’t be able to fit them through their doors, requiring “assemble on delivery” designs that are even more complex and costly.

A much more simple approach to VR shoes is that of the recently successful Cybershoes Kickstarter. Cybershoes approach is to have the player seated on a bar stool like chair and slide along a slippery surface with slippery shoes. Very simple rollers transmit movement data back to the PC, but they are not motorized in any way. The main advantage of Cybershoes is its significantly lower cost compared to alternatives.

The disadvantage of the Cybershoes, and the main problem Google’s approach seems to be tackling is that it only works seated. In Cybershoes you can’t go prone, you can’t crouch, you can’t sneak, and being seated detracts from the immersion if your character is supposed to be standing. A standing solution without having to install or strap into a full omnidirectional treadmill could potentially bring standing walking VR to regular consumers one day.

Questions remain about how much these kinds of shoes would cost, whether the motors could be reliable enough for a consumer product, and just how seamless it would actually feel to use. But if the approach described in Google’s patent application truly works, it could be a revolution for VR locomotion. We’ll keep you updated on any further patents or news from Google about innovative VR locomotion solutions.

Ace Combat 7’s PSVR mode is shaping up to offer a blockbuster experience that will play great with your regular DualShock 4. But, if you want the most immersive experience possible, you might want to consider grabbing this new flight stick.

Thrustmaster just announced the T.Flight Hotas 4 Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Edition for PS4, which is set to launch alongside the game on January 17th 2019. We’ve confirmed with that company that the controller will support the exclusive VR mode found in the PS4 version of the game, which consists of a handful of new missions to tackle. You will, of course, be able to take on the rest of the game’s traditional missions with it too.

The kit’s set to cost £74.99 in the UK though we don’t have a US RRP just yet. Pre-orders (again, in the UK) are going live on December 13th. Take note that, whilst this looks like a great way to play the VR content, we’re expecting Ace Combat 7’s VR support to be pretty lean, so you might want to hold out on making a big investment solely for that alone. Still, the stick will work with other flight sims on the console, so it might prove to be a good way to play Ultrawings too.